Korea will develop on its own 35 percent of its oil and natural gas demands by 2020, up from the current 13.7 percent, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Thursday amid U.S. pressure to cut its crude oil imports from Iran. Korea also aims to raise its development rate of six key mineral resources that are critical to the country’s economy ― bituminous coal, uranium, iron ore, copper, zinc and nickel ― from the current 29 percent to 43 percent by 2020. “Korea ranks the lowest in terms of resou

Sales at Korea’s major discount outlets rose from a year earlier as department stores posted losses in January, mainly due to a drop in demand for clothing, a government report showed Thursday.Sales at the country’s three major discount outlet chains grew 2.7 percent last month from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The gain at the discount outlet chains ― Lotte Mart, E-Mart and Homeplus ― was largely led by a 4.5 percent increase in sales of household sup

Creditors of Kumho Industrial agreed Thursday on a 690 billion won ($609 million) rescue package for the construction company, industry sources said.The package deal includes 120 billion won to be provided by creditors, a capital increase of 300 billion won by issuing new stocks and a 270-billion-won debt-to-equity swap next Wednesday.Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo informed the creditors of his intention to use his private funds for the capital increase of the financially embattled Kum

Retail prices of premium gasoline in Korea hit their highest levels ever on Feb. 14, driven by rising tensions in the Middle East, government data showed Thursday.Premium unleaded petrol was sold at an average 2,216.15 won ($1.96) per liter at pumps nationwide, according to Opinet, a website of real-time gas price comparisons run by the state-run Korean National Oil Corp.That is up almost 8.6 percent from a year ago and 2.6 won more expensive than the previous high of 2,213.55 won on Oct. 23, 20

Seoul court declares Dow’s key technology infringement suit has no legal basisLG Chem said Thursday it won a patent suit battle against U.S.-based Dow Chemical Co. involving ethylene-based elastomers.The country’s top chemical maker said that a Seoul court had ruled that the infringement lawsuit filed by Dow Chemical back in 2009 had no legal basis.“The ruling indicates that LG Chem’s proprietary technology on the making of ethylene-based elastomer, which was developed over the past 10 years, ha

Woori Financial Group reported a net profit of 2.15 trillion won ($1.88 billion) last year, a record-high yearly performance for the group.Its 2011 performance compares to 1.28 trillion won in net profit posted a year earlier.The financial group also saw its total assets maintain the No. 1 position in the local financial industry.In a statement, Woori Financial said it has strived to reduce insolvent assets over the past four years since the 2008 global financial crisis.Meanwhile, Woori Financia

Major private money lenders in Korea were ordered Thursday to suspend their operations for six months for reaping illegal profits through “unfair” interest rates, officials said Thursday.Seoul’s Gangnam Ward office informed four private lenders, including market leaders A&P Financial and Sanwa Money, to halt their business operations between March 5 to Sept. 4, according to industry officials.The move comes after the local financial regulator vowed to overhaul the private money market amid growi

Korean stocks sank 1.38 percent Thursday as investors stepped to the sidelines after the previous session’s rally amid lingering market uncertainty, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.Following a 1.13 percent jump a day earlier, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index tumbled 27.87 points to 1,997.45. Trading volume was heavy at 689.3 million shares worth 6.8 trillion won ($6 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 548 to 288.“Nagging eurozone woes and e

Foreign currency deposits at South Korean banks jumped last month on the back of the local unit’s ascent against the U.S. dollar and the yen as well as worries about Europe’s debt crisis, data showed Thursday. Foreign currency deposits held by five commercial banks rose 10.3 percent in January from a month ago to $19.73 billion, according to the data.The January figure, compiled from Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and the state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea, was a 38.5 percen

State-run Korea Gas Corp. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from a year earlier due to increased sales and higher prices of refined energy products.Net profit reached 94.7 billion won ($84 million) in the October-December period, compared with earnings of 45.2 billion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales jumped 34.6 percent to 8.7 trillion won during the cited period, with operating profit climbing 53.2 percent to 362.1 billion

More than half of Korean households owed debts to local banks in 2011 as they borrowed money to help support living costs, a poll showed Thursday.According to the survey of 2,030 households by the Bank of Korea, 54 percent of them borrowed money from financial institutions as of December of last year. Among the surveyed households, 22.5 percent of them replied they had taken out fresh loans between July and December last year. Of the recently indebted households, 32.2 percent of them said they h

Speculation rampant that two sides near compromise over mergerHana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu has been striving to prevent the union of Korea Exchange Bank, which has been acquired by the group, from going on strike.While KEB unionized workers have threatened to stage an all-out strike, Kim held a low-key negotiation with leaders of the union on Thursday.According to a speculation, raised by an online news provider, the two parties reached an agreement, which includes that KEB will be

Mercedes-Benz Korea is voluntarily recalling two years of diesel vehicles in Korea because of potentially faulty fuel filters that could lead to leaks, the Transportation Ministry said Thursday.Subject to the recall are 2,398 diesel cars manufactured between March 8, 2009 and May 31, 2011, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.Fuel leaks from the filters may cause a loss of control while driving and hazards for other vehicles by spilling fuel on the road, it said.The